Shades of Grey
by jeannie81
Summary: In a large castle, filled with all sorts of creatures, a strange alliance is formed. DracoPadma oneshot with just a hint of slash (couldn't help it, sorry)


Title: Shades of Grey  
  
Author: Jean  
  
Pairing: Draco Malfoy/ Padma Patil, Draco/other male  
  
Rating: PG-13 (probably PG)  
  
Warning(s): Het! Het I tell ya. Other than that, just a pinch of slash, blink and you'll miss it.  
  
Summary: In a large castle, filled with all sorts of creatures, a strange alliance is formed.  
  
A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters I play with in this story. I sadly don't make money out of this, but I do take bribes. This is written for the Potter's Pairs challenge, which consisted of an unusual pairing and the subject of Hogwarts' ghosts. Spoilers are up to book 5 (to be sure). Last but definitely not least, a thousand thanks to Dedra and Merlin for the beta.  
  
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Shades of Grey  
  
Lady Elizabeth Ashfield, or the Grey Lady as she was now known, had had a very tragic life-before-death. She'd been the best student in her Hogwarts class surpassing even her male counterparts, and became Head Girl in her ultimate year at Hogwarts.  
  
A promising future was ahead of her, had she not made the mistake of falling for the wrong man. Her father had intended to marry her off, but as a headstrong female, the need to make her own decisions had been too great to ignore. Elizabeth ran away with the first man to enchant her, but fate wasn't generous to the lady.  
  
A few years into the relationship found the lady bound to an adulterous man, who was unwilling to release his trophy wife, had that not been unheard of in those days. She cursed her husband with impotence and infertility when she found out about his penchant for sleeping with other women, but that had the rather nasty side effect of leaving her without progeny for the rest of her life.  
  
Lady Elizabeth Ashfield spent the last days of her admittedly short life roaming the castle she inhabited with her husband, forlorn and desolate, mourning the absence of her offspring. Some said she died of heartbreak, others suspected her husband in having a more prominent role in her demise.  
  
The Grey Lady's life-after-death was a more interesting one. Her reason for not leaving the earthly plane was a simple one: revenge. Her husband had left her feeling so disconnected from the world that she eventually lost the will to live in it. Her ethereal form tormented him until his death.  
  
After wandering through the deserted castle and the surrounding area for a few years, she decided to see what else was in the world. She eventually strayed back to the place she had been happiest. Hogwarts not only gave her the comfort of spending her time in a scholarly environment, it also gave her the joy of being around children. She was honoured when the then Headmaster requested her to be the resident Ravenclaw ghost.  
  
On occasion another student outside of Ravenclaw would capture her attention. Right now Draco Malfoy was that student. She had watched him transform from a spoilt little brat to an intelligent, but solitary man. She admired the way he carried himself through all the whispers and outright affronts after his father's involvement with Voldemort became common knowledge.  
  
His Housemates immediately turned on him, claiming they always knew of his destiny as a Death Eater, simply because he wasn't shy of broadcasting it throughout the House. Draco held himself high and dug into his education with determination. He had transformed his passable grades into the highest grades of his year, even surpassing Hermione Granger -whom she secretly considered a Ravenclaw- in some classes.  
  
She had overheard Severus and Albus discussing Draco's future. Apparently his mother had kicked him out when he refused to take the Dark Mark. The Lady remembered Narcissa Black. She'd been a headstrong Ravenclaw, one of the smartest, but it seemed that after her marriage, she'd become a mere extension of her husband. The Lady was glad their son had managed to break free of such an oppressed upbringing.  
  
The more she heard of their conversation, the more she became enamoured with the boy. He reminded her of herself somehow and she wanted to guide him as to not make the mistakes she had made while trying to escape from the clutches of her family.  
  
The haughty Draco Malfoy had been shoved off his pedestal almost as soon as the school year had started. Within the first few days, the students' gossip had turned into outright attacks. They let him know in no uncertain terms how he was considered a disgrace, both verbally and physically. The eager bully, who thrived on the masses' attention, was suddenly the bullied and even his two henchmen deserted him. His House was eager to abandon him and suddenly Draco was the lone figure during classes and mealtimes. The Lady once ventured into the Slytherin common room and found that he really was a castaway in his own House. She was surprised that he wasn't taken off the Quidditch team, but surmised that he was probably an invaluable team member.  
  
After the conversation the Lady had overheard, she began to guard Draco. Students who harassed him in the school corridors found themselves suddenly shockingly cold, leaving Draco to either to counter them or flee the premises. When he confronted her about her assistance, she simply told him that she found that he should have at least one ally in such a hostile place. He accepted her friendship and soon they could be found wandering the hallways together and discussing trivial subjects.  
  
In the course of two years, his last two years as a student in Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy blossomed under the Lady's care. It was a few months towards the end of the first year of their acquaintance that the lady noticed that she was not the only one that observed Draco.  
  
Padma Patil was not your average Ravenclaw. While most of the others were a bit boastful of their knowledge, feeling superior to the other Houses, Padma was a more observing, analytical Ravenclaw. She was a calm, reticent girl, unlike her sister, who was more of a dreamer, yet a social butterfly.  
  
Whenever her fellow Ravenclaws would succumb to common gossip and voice their negative opinions about Draco, she would tell them that their judgements were based on subjective statements instead of objective facts. She challenged them to find evidence of his so-called allegiance with the Dark Lord and when they could not, she encouraged them to take him in during their study sessions, arguing that his grades had improved remarkably and that he'd be a valuable asset to their cumulative intelligence.  
  
By the end of the year, Padma and Draco had, also due to some meddling by the Lady, become quite close friends. They were usually found together studying or engaged in some idle chitchat. While not on the Quidditch team, Padma proved to be an excellent flyer and the two could occasionally be seen soaring through the Quidditch pitch or around the Hogwarts grounds.  
  
With the support of the Grey Lady and the assistance of his Ravenclaw year- mates, Draco acquired the position of Head Boy during his last year, alongside Susan Bones as Head Girl. Their coalition proved to be an amiable one, maybe too amiable, as it sparked Padma's jealousy a few months into the school year. The Lady and Draco had been busy with one of their regular brainstorming sessions, when an incensed Padma stormed in. She demanded to know whether Draco was involved with Susan. It was the first time the Lady became aware of a more intimate relationship between her two protégés. It amused her, to see an encounter so like her own confrontation with her deceased husband. But unlike her husband, who had approached her with indifference, Draco calmly fire-called Susan and arranged a meeting for the three of them. Of course, the Lady decided to join them. In the Head Students common room, Draco sat both girls down and explained the situation to Susan, who immediately burst out laughing, proclaiming that her mirth was because she'd never seen an irrational Ravenclaw before and that Draco was really not her type, however dashing he may be.  
  
When Susan left, while the Lady was still invisible in a corner of the room, Draco explained to Padma that she was the first girl he'd been romantically interested in and his interests were previously only held by the masculine kind. He told her that their relationship was something he held very dear and that he was in it for the long run. Both ladies present were practically tearing up at his confession.  
  
Their relationship proved to be a private one, as opposed to a secret one. Few people knew about it, even though the pair didn't go out of their way to hide it. It suited the Lady just fine, knowing that the fruits of her labour had paid off so nicely. Draco and Padma seemed to complement each other in every way; it would have been a shame had they not come together.  
  
She sometimes caught them kissing each other goodbye before classes, completely unaware of the world around them. It was also noticeable that their previously friendly interactions had taken a more intimate direction. Their races through the Hogwarts grounds had become leisurely flights above the lake. When they weren't studying with their fellow year mates, you could find them huddled together in a corner of the common room, quietly discussing the merits of using Transfiguration potions instead of charms.  
  
One day, when a bout of ennui had spurred her on to seek Draco, she had inadvertently walked in on them in Draco's bedroom during a very private moment. She had been both saddened and heartened. She looked upon these two children as her own, in a way, and to see them in such a sexual act was disconcerting. Nevertheless, even she could not deny the sheer sensuality and intimacy their joining illustrated.  
  
It was a few weeks before the NEWTS when Draco didn't show up for one of their meetings. It was highly unusual, as Draco was a very punctual person, who had never missed any of their sessions before. She found him in his bedroom, apparently sleeping, until she tried to wake him up. Even her cold ethereal form passing his lying form couldn't wake him up. She had never known distress could feel like this, even before her death. In her panic to notify the school nurse, she passed through at least five students. Luckily Poppy was able to persuade the Grey Lady that although Draco's situation was dire, it was not hopeless.  
  
The essence of belladonna was quite easy to procure, even though it was also a highly potent poison. It worked incredibly slowly and hardly produced any visible symptoms unless the victim had ingested a substantial amount of the essence. Poppy predicted that he had been ingesting it for a few months before they found out. Draco's breathing was laboured, and it took three different potions to steady his heartbeat.  
  
Albus was alerted and he decided, due to the gravity of the situation, to isolate Draco from his fellow students. In fact, the only people allowed to Draco were Albus himself, Poppy and Severus. The antidote to belladonna poisoning was simple enough to produce, although it would take Severus a week to concoct. In the meantime, Poppy made sure to keep Draco alive enough to survive during that week.  
  
For the Grey Lady, her week was torn between guarding her Draco and floating through the castle invisibly, to find out about the perpetrator. Draco had of course fallen victim to a lot of childish and even hateful pranks in the course of the two years, due to his father's association with the Dark Lord. Aside from the Ravenclaws, none of the other Houses believed in his innocence concerning Death Eater involvement and they weren't afraid to show it. The more odious assaults came from the students who had lost loved ones by the hands of the Dark Lord or the Death Eaters and felt the need to retaliate on behalf of those loved ones.  
  
She soon came to the conclusion that it might not have been one of those impulse-inflicted attacks. Though word of Draco's poisoning had spread, no one seemed to know anything about the person responsible for it. She tried engaging Padma in her investigation, but her worry for Draco was overwhelming her ability to act at all. The Lady was a bit surprised at how emotional Padma had become, she always seemed so aloof, even in difficult times. Then again, the Lady was sure that had she been in love as Padma was and not been able to see her injured love, especially in such a critical condition, she would be quite emotional as well.  
  
By the end of the week, she had no more information than what she started with. Luckily, the antidote was finished and Severus would be administering it as soon as he arrived at the Infirmary. She hoped that Draco had a notion of whom his attacker was, or else his remaining stay at Hogwarts would be a fatal one.  
  
When Draco woke up the next day, a great sense of relief filled the Lady. Severus let out a big sigh, while Albus' smile could probably be seen from the Great Hall. Poppy immediately cast spells on Draco, to read his health. He seemed disoriented and was still weak, so Albus decided that any declaration he was able to make would wait until the next day.  
  
Draco's testimony had been a short one: Upon entering his room that day, Draco had seen Padma slipping something from a vial in his pumpkin juice. The last thing he remembered was a Stupefying charm coming his way. He reckoned Padma had been slipping him the belladonna essence for a while, because they had been meeting in his bedroom ever since the start of the school year. She always had some snacks and beverages sent up before he came in. He hastily added that their relationship turned into a romantic one right before Christmas and that their activities in his bedroom were strictly of a platonic kind. Not that the Lady was convinced of that.  
  
It was safe to say that Padma's involvement in Draco's poisoning was a shock to the parties present. Draco had mulled it over the previous day and could not understand why she wanted more than friendship from him if her intention was to kill him. The Grey Lady couldn't believe that one of her charges could be so cold-hearted as to painstakingly plan and execute a murder. Albus was sad that someone so young could be caught in such hateful activities. Severus was mildly surprised, but also impressed that she had executed her plan in such a simple, but ingenious way. Due to the accessibility of belladonna, people usually forgot that it was a highly effective poison. Had it not been found and cured, Draco would have just dropped dead one day and nobody would've been able to trace it back to Padma. They might not even have been able to trace it back to a poisoning in his school years.  
  
Snape apprehended Padma in the Ravenclaw common room. When it dawned on her that they weren't going to the Infirmary, she tried to escape the professor accompanying her, but it was already too late. In the Headmasters room she was administered with Veritaserum. With two Aurors present, she testified to poisoning and attempting to murder Draco. Her parents and twin sister burst in the room as she was explaining her motives.  
  
She had tried to join the Dark Lord after the Triwizard Tournament, to ensure her family's safety. While being too young for the Mark, she knew he could use some eyes and ears in Hogwarts. For two years she played on any information she thought useful. Upon Draco's deflection of the Dark Mark, something she had then been wanting for two years, the Dark Lord called for her.  
  
Her objective was to kill Draco, to prove she wanted the Dark Mark after her graduation. So she set out to get close to him, which was easier than she thought, with the Grey Lady's infatuation with him and the Ravenclaw's cool logic working against them.  
  
She had actually started administering the essence of belladonna a few days before the summer vacation. She had hoped that it would be enough, but when it wasn't she came up with the idea of dosing him with small amounts regularly. She figured that it would take effect right after graduation, in which case she would have been able to lure him to the Dark Lord for torture, before he died. Had Draco escaped, it wouldn't matter anyway, for the poison would already be working on his demise. She had panicked when he came into the room early, forcing her to stun him. In her panic she gave him the whole vial, which was about fifteen times more than the amount she had been dispensing previously. While he was in the Infirmary she decided to wait and see if he died, which would make her a perfect victim, whose love had deceased. Had he survived, she was sure it would be announced before they would investigate, which would give her time to escape.  
  
Her story finished, her family was also questioned under Veritaserum. They had no knowledge of Padma's double-life, not even Parvati, who had become a strong defender of Draco because of their relationship.  
  
Padma was sentenced to Azkaban, which the Grey Lady found to be her just dessert. She had not only fooled Draco and the students after all, she had also fooled a centuries-old ghost and that was not to be tolerated. Sadly the Patils also lost a daughter that day.  
  
Draco recovered enough to be admitted to his NEWTS, which he passed splendidly as the results showed a few weeks later. The Grey Lady was a little sad to see him graduate and leave her already, but became overjoyed when she found out that he would be following an apprenticeship under professor Sinistra at Hogwarts.  
  
A few years later found Draco perfectly happy as Astronomy professor at Hogwarts, while living in Hogsmeade with his beau, Derek Dorny. He could sometimes be found in an empty classroom, engaged in heavy conversations with a ghost, as crazy as that may sound.  
  
Fin 


End file.
